Journal of Antivirals & Antiretrovirals
Open Access

Abstract

Effects of Vitamins E and C Supplementation on the Immune Response of Broiler Chicks

Nadeem Bhatti, Zahid Hussain, Muhammad Mukhtar, Asghar Ali, Muhammad Imran, Asim Rafique, Sohail Manzoor and Saad Rehman

The present study was done to know the effects of supplementations of vitamin C and E on humoral immune response against Newcastle Disease (ND) and Infectious Bursal Disease (IBD) and on lymphoid organs in broiler birds. One hundred and twenty day old chicks were purchased from a local hatchery and were reared in an open house shed. On day 5th all the chick divided randomly into 4 groups A, B, C and D (30 birds in each). On the day 5th and 11th, the chicks were vaccinated against ND and Disease IBD. Booster doses of both vaccines were given on day 28. The chicks were offered Vitamin E (600 mg l-1), Vitamin C (600 mg l-1) and Vitamin E+C (300 mg l-1 each), for 5 consecutive days in drinking water on day 5 and 28. Weekly serum Hemagglutination Inhibition (HI) antibody titers against ND virus, total body weight, feed conversion ratio (FCR) and weight of lymphoid organs were recorded until the day 49. Geometric mean HI antibody titers against ND remained maximum in group C. Statistical analysis revealed a non significant (P<0.05) differences among the various treatment groups in weight gain. At day 49, the total weight gain was maximum in group C (2196.0 gm) followed by group A (2155.0 g), group B (2146 g) and group D (2094 gm). The feed conversion ratio was the best in the group B (1.66) followed by group C (1.69) with a non significant difference. From the study, it was concluded that the combined effect of Vitamin E+C was better as compared to separate supplementation of Vitamin E and Vitamin C.